In a letter addressed to critics, hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons, 50, defended a child support ruling that was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court involving the hip-hop mogul and his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons, 33, and their two daughters Ming Lee, 8, and Aoki Lee, 5. Simmons set the record straight regarding the amount of child support he pays and why he's glad to pay it.
In the statement, Simmons stated the following:
Friends of mine have forwarded me gossip online about my custody agreement details with Kimora. The fact is, we’ve had a pretty good partnership at sharing the girls in the past.
There have been a few bumps in the road, and those bumps have led us to negotiate a minimum amount of time I’m guaranteed to see my kids. That deal is as follows: I have the girls one full week out of every eight, half of the summer, half of all the holidays, a full week at Christmas, and half of Spring Break.
Like in all good partnerships, contracts are meant to protect the partners but are usually not the only way the partners work together. If I show up in L.A., where she now lives, unannounced, I can call up Kimora and she will most likely send them right over. The same goes for when she comes to New York.
We have always had a school in New York and a school with the same curriculum in L.A., so when the girls are with me in New York, we can spend quality time together. I can get up with them, take them to school and just be together. Kimora consults with me about doctors or schools for the girls, but she’s always had final say in those areas. If we had an argument about a school, guess who’s going to win?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hours after sparring with Barack Obama over immigration, John McCain told crowd at fundraiser Saturday night that "Sen. Obama's word cannot be trusted."
Sen. John McCain had harsh words for Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday.
"You know, this election is about trust, and trusting people's word, and unfortunately apparently on several items, Sen. Obama's word cannot be trusted," McCain said in Louisville, Kentucky.
The comment came as McCain criticized Obama for reversing positions on public financing and other issues.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced McCain and joked that the two don't always see eye-to-eye.
McCain said, "I take difficult positions sometimes. Mitch will tell you, I'm not elected Ms. Congeniality every year in the United States Senate. But the fact is that I'll keep my word to the American people, and you can trust me."
McCain's charges followed speeches from both candidates at the annual conference of NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
At the conference, Obama accused McCain of backing down on immigration reform for political reasons.
"One place where Sen. McCain used to offer change was on immigration. He was a champion of comprehensive reform, and I admired him for it. But when he was running for his party's nomination, he walked away from that commitment and he's said he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote. We can't vacillate. We can't shift," Obama said Saturday in Washington.
McCain, who spoke before Obama, also issued a strong challenge to Obama over his call for the Illinois senator to join him in a town hall meeting.
Both candidates were trying to reach out to the Latino voting bloc.
R&B singer Ciara has signed with modeling agency Wilhelmina and is in talks to launch her own clothing line.
Wilhelmina will now focus on casting Ciara, who’s currently ending a print modeling run for Jay-Z's Rocawear line, in both clothing and fragrance campaigns, according to the singer.
"Modeling has always been one of my aspirations," says Ciara. "But I was insecure about my height. I thought I was 5'7" but I just found out that I'm 5'8" so I'm really excited about that."
Ciara’s also in talks with the budget-friendly department store, Steve & Barry's, to create a reasonably priced clothing line that bridges her personal style with affordable price points. Steve & Barry's also carries Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line as well as the New York Knicks' Stephon Marbury's Starbury collection.
"I have a couple of cool things that I'm working on," says Ciara. "The coolest thing about Steve & Barry's is they cater to everyday people. I won't say that my line will be like theirs, I want to stay true to who I am, but most importantly it has to be affordable."
Ciara is also in the midst of prepping her third album, "Fantasy Ride," set for September via Jive. Her last album, 2006's "Evolution," has sold 1.3 million copies to-date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Newsweek is set to publish a highly embarrassing report on Sen. John McCain, revealing that the McCains have failed to pay taxes on their beach-front condo in La Jolla, California, for the last four years and are currently in default, The Huffington Post has learned.
Under California law, once a residential property is in default for five years, it can be sold at a tax sale to recover the unpaid taxes for the taxpayers.
The McCains own at least seven homes through a variety of trusts and corporations controlled by Cindy McCain.
UPDATE: Newsweek's story is now online. The report notes that the McCains paid the bulk of their back taxes yesterday, but continue to owe additional taxes:
When you're poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you're rich, it's hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It's a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when NEWSWEEK raised questions about an overdue property-tax bill on a La Jolla, Calif., property owned by a trust that she oversees. Mrs. McCain is a beer heiress with an estimated $100 million fortune and, along with her husband, she owns at least seven properties, including condos in California and Arizona. [...]
Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. County officials say the trust still owes an additional $1,742 for this year, an amount that is overdue and will go into default July 1. Told of the outstanding $1,742, the aide said: "The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due."
Since the United States presidential election in November of 2004, viewership in the 25-54 age bracket of Fox News has fallen from over 1,000,000 in October to under 450,000 in April, according to the Daily Kos, a liberal weblog.
Ratings for cable news stations have fallen globally since the election, but most have since stabilized, making Fox's continuing decline unusual. CNN's ratings, as an example, increased 27% in April. Fox still leads CNN in this demographic by nearly 35% however, with CNN only managing to reverse its viewership decline in March 2005.
The FOX News Channel is a US cable and satellite news channel. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. As of January 2005, it is available to 85 million subscribers in the U.S. and to further viewers internationally, broadcasting primarily out of its New York City studios.
According to the BBC, FOX News' profits doubled due to "patriotic coverage" of the Iraq conflict, with as much as 300% increase in viewership, with 3.3 million average daily viewers.
The 2004 election coverage by FOX News ranked higher than the next two cable news competitors combined. For President Bush's address, FOX News rated 7.3 million viewers. NBC, CBS, and ABC rated 5.9, 5.0, and 5.1, respectively.
Fox News viewership in the 25-54 age bracket (Source: Daily Kos):
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plans to visit the Middle East and Europe this summer, taking time off from campaigning in the United States in an effort to boost his foreign policy credentials.
Obama's campaign told The Associated Press the likely nominee will travel to Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The Illinois senator also has said he intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan this summer; his campaign would not say whether those stops would be part of the trip to the Mideast and Europe.
"This trip will be an important opportunity for me to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security, and to consult with some of our closest friends and allies about the common challenges we face," Obama said in a statement. "This will be an important opportunity to have an exchange of views with leaders in these countries about these and other issues that are critical to American national security — and global security — in the 21st century."
The campaign also would not disclose the dates of any of the plans in an attempt to protect Obama's security. Obama's campaign manager said this past week that Iraq and Afghanistan would be part of an official congressional trip. The other stops are part of a campaign-funded visit.
How many barber shops and salons are too many? For south suburban Calumet City, 57–in immediate proximity–is too many and city leaders are looking at ways to keep barbershops and hair salons from piling up on each other. But some business owners think the problem is not the number of hair care establishments, but the number of Black ones.
“It was suggested at a City Council meeting that we look at businesses that are rapidly expanding and those occupying a lot of commercial space,” said Calumet City Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush. “There was no moratorium proposed for barbershops and hair salons, merely a suggestion of how to keep shops from over saturating the area.”
She added that there are a total of 57 barbershops and hair salons in Calumet City, which she does not see as a problem. But the fact that many of them are located next door or across the street from each other is a problem. Qualkinbush said there are 31 barbershops and 26 hair salons in Calumet City but did not know how many were Black-owned.
“We do not keep a record of what color business owners are here,” she said. However, a Chicago Defender analysis identified 23 Black-owned barbershops and 12 hair salons in Calumet City. According to the City Clerk’s office, the fee for a business license to open a barbershop or hair salon in Calumet City is $150. Some Black barbers and hair stylists in Calumet City think the city needs to look at zoning issues rather than a moratorium on business licenses for them.
“The problem is not too much competition but the fact that you can find two or three barbershops located in the same strip mall,” said Avery Miller, 34, a barber at George’s Barbershop, 1551 Sibley Blvd. Just three blocks away at 1086 Sibley Blvd. is Exclusive Barbershop. Paul Sanders, 30, has worked there for three years and since that time he said five barbershops have opened on Sibley Boulevard. “It seems like Sibley Boulevard is the place to be if you are a barbershop.
Interview with Harvard fellow, Peniel E. Joseph, by Tolu Olorunda.
Peniel E. Joseph is one of the nation’s leading scholars of African American history. Although Joseph’s formal expertise includes the Black Radical Tradition, Pan-Africanism, Black Social Movements, and African American feminism, he is currently embarking on a re-evaluation of the Black Power Movement. Professor Joseph is associate professor of African and Afro-American Studies and affiliate faculty in history at Brandeis University. Joseph is the founder of a growing subfield of historical and Africana Studies scholarship that he has named “Black Power Studies.” Joseph's dynamic presentation style and innovative scholarship, place him on the cutting edge of a new generation of public intellectuals. Joseph’s book “Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America,” was a “Washington Post Book World” Best Nonfiction Book for 2006. It was also a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize. It received honorable mention for the 2007 Gustavas Myers Center Outstanding Book Award; and received the inaugural W.E.B. Du Bois Book Award from the Northeastern Black Studies Alliance. It was also a Boston Globe paperback bestseller in 2008. Joseph is currently working on a biography of Civil Rights and Black Power activist, Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), and a study of postwar African American history. For the 2008-2009 academic year, Dr. Joseph will be a fellow at Harvard University’s Warren Center.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Joseph on a wide array of issues. With topics ranging from politics to culture, and education to sports, he was insightfully-enlightening in his observations:
Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us about your background, and the journey leading up to Harvard?
I’m from New York City, born and raised, and I’m just raised by a single mom. My mom was a trade unionist for 40 yrs in New York City – just retired. So, I was always into social and political activism; I was on my first picket line by the time I was 9 yrs old, so I was always active. I was always interested in Black history, Caribbean history, Asian history and African history, so after college I got my PhD from Temple University. At the same time, I was still involved in community and social activism. I wound up teaching at Arizona State University for a couple of years; then I taught at University of Rhode Island and Stony Brooks University in New York -- which is my alma mater. And now at Brandeis University, but this year, I’m a fellow at Harvard University.
Is the continued presence of Black and Brown intellectuals in Ivy League schools emblematic of any substantive progress for us?
Yes, I think it’s an example of progress, but I also think it that -- well, I’ll do the ‘positives’ first. I think it’s a tremendous example of progress, given the fact that when we think about higher education and academe, especially predominantly white institutions; these we’re set up as spaces for the white, elite and the rich. So as soon as you get any kind of African Americans in there, it’s very positive. And, obviously we owe a lot of these to people like Carter G. Woodson, W.E.B Du Bois and Ida B. Wells; the generation of the 19th and early 20th century intellectuals. Some we’re PhDs and others we’re just organic intellectuals in that degree, such as Marcus Garvey and Hubert Harrison. By the time you get to the 1960s, there’s really a second wave of Black Studies, vis-Ã -vis the Black Power movement that forces some of these predominantly white institutions to open up their doors, through the implementation of Black Studies majors in programs across the country. So that’s the positive. But the negative is the fact that I think most of these spaces are still overwhelmingly white and racist. So, having Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson and Manning Marable is great, but at the same time, it provides cover for some of these racist institutions as well.So, you have this representative-nature of Blackness, but you don’t have enough Black Undergraduates, or Graduates, let alone Faculty and Administration; because we are sorely underrepresented in all those categories. It’s the same thing with Senator Obama. You might have a black president, but you might also see a lack of Blackness in the federal judges or the news-media. So, there’s the good and bad to the process.
What is your overall perspective on the Senator from Illinois -- especially being that he hails from your very Harvard?
Well, I’m a critical supporter of Mr. Obama, and what I mean by that is that I support Obama’s candidacy; and at the same time, I think that if he is elected, we have to be very vigilant and very critical. So that we force ‘President Obama’ to publicly confront things like, the Prison Industrial Complex and the pervasiveness/viciousness of institutional racism – locally nationally and internationally. But again, I think that trying to run for president is a hard thing to do.
Do you believe that Cynthia McKinney from the Green Party can help in exerting some ‘progressive-pressure’ upon the political landscape?
I think that Cynthia McKinney is obviously a very progressive person -– whom I admire. I think that when we talk of Cynthia McKinney, a lot of activists get confused with Third-Party runs and Community Organizing. Nowadays, some people think that ‘trying’ a Third-Party run - in and of itself - is community organizing, and there’s a problem there. I think that the bankruptcy of that strategy is shown when you have a candidate like Barack Obama, who’s actually energizing millions of people. The Third-Parties don’t seem to have a parallel-outreach and success. When people like Malcolm X and Kwame Ture would say, “We got to follow the people, because the people are ahead of us;” how come they’re following Obama? Masses of the American people are following Obama.
Do you think Senator Obama’s struggle for the White-House is one which we must all embrace?
I think we should be critically supportive of Barack Obama’s candidacy. We’ve seen a lot of debates over this. We saw Tavis Smiley come out and catch a lot of flak for it. But, I do like the idea of holding Barack Obama accountable, but I also feel that he’s in a very difficult position, because he is the first black man that could actually become president. I think the African American community should embrace his candidacy - but critically - and then really watch what’s going on, and try to influence it within the next four years. And then if our needs aren’t being addressed, we can begin making intelligent calculations on what to do next.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Father’s Day Speech that he gave last Sunday. Did you have a problem with it, or did you feel that it was indeed a legitimate critique?
Well, certainly the speech was pandering, but if you’re from that background, where you’re raised by a single parent, you realize that you do need to speak to Black Men about this. And I thought Obama did it in a way that wasn’t quite as condescending as the way in which Bill Cosby did it in 2004. You have to talk about the politics of self-responsibility vis-Ã -vis our failures, and also the system that is perpetuating that failure, and that’s a dialogue that we haven’t had in a really complex way. If you’re speaking of the politics of self-determination, whether it’s Marcus Garvey or the Nation of Islam, you’re supposed take personal responsibility. But, one big issue with a Barack Obama presidency is that he might not be able to preach responsibility all across the board.
In matters of education, how does the next president rehabilitate the dilapidated public school system?
To be honest with you, all the president can do is propose laws to the Congress for passage. Certainly, he can give more money to public schools and have further accountability by putting more ‘teeth’ behind “No Child Left Behind;” but it’s really based on spending bills.
As an expert on issues pertinent to race, what are the major obstacles threatening our progress?
I think the biggest things are probably lack of access to higher education, the Prison Industrial complex and the Criminal Justice System. Unemployment, Violence and drugs also are power-brokers in our stagnancy. And we’re talking of Black Americans who happen to be part of the so-called “underclass.”
Do the recent victories of Tiger Woods and the Boston Celtic (being overwhelmingly black) have any substantial impact upon the lives of everyday black folk?
I think they might be an inspiration to some, but a Barack Obama presidency would be even bigger. You know, sports is different from politics, and I think if you have a black President, it will transform the way a lot of young people look at themselves. And, I think Obama’s presidency would bring about reverberations in other aspects of American society. I think that newspapers and television and media would be forced to re-examine aspects of how they’re made up vis-Ã -vis the shock of having a Black President.
What is your advice for the average brother and sister trying to gain access to higher education?
The pursuit of literacy would allow you to really excel; because, a lot of us are woefully unprepared after graduation from High School. The way it is now, so many of our people have a star-crossed relationship with school, and it is not perceived as something which would impact their lives. I think that what the older folks have to do is educate the younger ones about our history and the struggle that took place to get to this point. And, I think that can provide a context for a way to move forward in the present.
Once again, thanks for speaking with us Dr. Joseph.
This interview was conducted by Tolu Olorunda, Staff Writer for YourBlackWorld.com
